A. Unfortunately, records of Korean War veterans were among those affected by the 1973 fire at the National Archives’ National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, which destroyed 80 percent of Army records for those discharged Nov. 1, 1912, to Jan. 1, 1960, and 75 percent of Air Force records for those discharged Sept. 25, 1947, to Jan. 1, 1964 (with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.). Next of kin can order surviving records if the veteran is deceased at Archives.gov.

Order draft records, which weren’t destroyed in the fire, from the NPRC. Contact the center for details: (314) 801-0800, MPR.center@nara.gov, or National Personnel Records Center, 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132.
Note that surviving military records are considered archival and are opened to the public 62 years after the person’s separation from the military. This means records with a discharge date of 1952 or prior are archival, and Korean War records will soon be open to the public, not just immediate relatives. NARA lists links to other Korean War resources online.